A Colorful, Thrifty Toronto Home

published Dec 6, 2015

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About this tour

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Home Type

House

Location

East Danforth, Toronto, Canada

Style

Eclectic

Vintage

Bedrooms

Square feet

1000

Sq ft

1000

Name: Catherine Cachia and Lionel McDonald, their daughter, Winnie, and Griffey the dog
Location: East Danforth — Toronto, Ontario
Size: Approximately 1,000 square feet
Years lived in: 2 years; Owned

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Instagram and mid-century modern couches brought Catherine and I together. Last summer, she left a comment on one of my pictures saying we had the exact same couch. I thought that was a big coincidence for a considerably vintage piece of furniture. Was she also in Ontario? I headed over to her bio and found out, to my delight, that she lived in Toronto. A quick look at Catherine’s profile and I was convinced: This East Danforth home was definitely House Tour material.

(Image credit: Carmen Chavarri)

When she’s not working in fundraising for the community arts development initiative SKETCH, Catherine indulges her passion for vintage clothing and DIY furnishings and projects. These interests inform much of the house’s personality. One of the upstairs rooms is a customized closet for Catherine’s impressive vintage collection, and the house is constantly evolving, thanks to DIY projects and thrift store explorations—all of which she writes about and photographs beautifully for her blog.

With the arrival of Catherine and Lionel’s daughter Winnie this fall, the home has undergone its most exciting transformation to date: Catherine transformed her art studio into the dreamiest nursery for Winnie! (You can see the transformation here!)

(Image credit: Carmen Chavarri)

Apartment Therapy Survey:

My Style: Vintage, colorful, and eclectic.

Inspiration: Lately, I’ve been super inspired by design bloggers. Some of my favorites right now are Justina Blakeney of The Jungalow, Elsie Larson of A Beautiful Mess, and Mandi Gubler of Vintage Revivals.

Favorite Element: The photo ledges above my sofa. I love how they allow me to switch up the artwork often to keep the space feeling fresh.

Biggest Challenge: Some of the rooms in our home are quite small, which makes arranging furniture challenging. Oh, and dog hair! It’s a constant battle but Griffey, our chocolate lab, is one thousand percent worth it.

What Friends Say: That my home is “so me.” Most people comment on how it’s a real eclectic mix of vintage and modern. My favorite compliment though, is when people say that it just “feels good” here. I like that one because I’m always aiming to create an inviting, comfortable space.

Biggest Embarrassment: Our out-of-control messy basement! It’s a real dumping ground for all things miscellaneous in our lives.

Proudest DIY: The finishings of our breakfast bar, which I worked on with my dad. The front surface is salvaged Ontario barn board and the table top surface is cement.

Biggest Indulgence: Our kitchen reno for sure. In particular, our quartz countertops and counter-depth fridge.

Best Advice: You can create consistency in a home without making everything match. Instead, choose a handful of colors you love and repeat them spontaneously throughout your home. If you’re tight on space, try putting your most beautiful clothes or shoes on display instead of hiding them all away in closets. This saves space, and decorating with your collections makes a space feel really personal. Another thing I do whenever I’m feeling like a space is very “blah” is remove everything from the room and then only put back things that I either really love or that serve a purpose. I get rid of everything else.

Dream Sources: One of these days I’m going to splurge on a Moroccan Boucherouite rug. They are so dreamy, but we just can’t justify that kind of money on a rug right now. But even if I was rich, I think I’d still be a die-hard thrifter. To me, it’s about the magical process of taking something discarded or forgotten and giving it a new, beautiful life.

Resources

PAINT & COLORS

All Walls: CIL Wedding White
Yellow door in living room (above): RONA Collection Banana Tree
Peach door in nursery: CIL brand Peach Medley
Turquoise door in bedroom: CIL brand Bali Hai
Green dresser in nursery: BEHR Winter Shamrock

ENTRY

Mirror: thrift store, repainted
Vintage book key holders: Arts Market
Vintage needlepoint art: Value Village
Everything on shelving (biscuits box, vintage tins, etc.): thrifted from different sources